 |
Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles 8.02
The Alchemists Written by Ian Potter
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Published: August 2013 |
Episode 1: "Wedding Gold"
Today did not go entirely as planned. Due to a visit to London at the beginning of next week, it was my intention to listen to both episodes of The Alchemists and write both reviews today so I had a bit of a buffer. That plan fell apart at 7 AM when I was called into work to cover for someone off sick. What's that saying about the best laid plans. Ah well. Still, I did manage to listen to the first episode of The Alchemists today after getting home from work, and what an absolute treat it was.The Alchemists is another Companion Chronicle by Big Finish Productions and was written by Ian Potter. In this story, we have the Doctor and Susan's arriving in Berlin in January 1933 on the eve of Hitler's rise to power. As one would expect from a story set during this era and within Germany itself, there is a sense of foreboding about what is to unfold, from sly references to boarded up shops and a shopkeeper removing writing from their store windows to overt references to the hatred directed at the Jewish inhabitants and Hitler's brown shirts keeping "order" across the city.
The feeling of history strongly enthuses this entire episode as we learn how Germany has suffered in the years following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the economic fall-out that followed. Memories of my GCSE History classes came rushing back as brief references to the hyper-inflation, the various political parties all vying for power and the chaos brought by two elections in four months. Considering I got an 'A' in history, it can safely be said that I lapped it up.
Where my history did let me down was the knowledge regarded the assemblage of the greatest scientific minds in the city. I did think that the Doctor meeting these scientific geniuses would be the crux of the entire story, so I was surprised as the narrative followed Susan as she split away from her grandfather to continue exploring Berlin. Again, we had a glimpse of the harsh reality of the time as she is greeted by a group of children who want to do anything for her to earn a few coins to allow them to live another day.
The cliffhanger of the episode was excellent and took me completely by surprised, with a drugged Susan stumbling to find the Doctor, before he is snatched away. More tomorrow as we experience the second episode, but I can guarantee one thing: Pollit's a bad 'un.
Episode 2: "Dahlem Lead"
I've been struggling all day trying to gather my thoughts about today's episode, and considering I listened to it at 8:30 this morning, is quite a bit of time. All of the elements from yesterday's episode that I praised are all here, it's still atmospheric, history is masterfully alluded too, the characters are engaging. Yet, I was left feeling rather unsatisfied with the story's conclusion.
To cut a long story short, the Doctor had been kidnapped by the antique dealer that he and Susan had sold the Roman gold to upon landing in Berlin. The dealer had been working with Pollit, a agent from the British Secret Service who was investigating the German scientist Fritz Harber and rumours that he had found a way to economically extract gold from sea water. So when, the Doctor turns up with freshly minted antique gold, suspicion naturally falls on the Time Lord and his granddaughter.
Naturally, with the Doctor out of the picture to the closing scenes of the episode, this is Susan's story. She's has a lot of stuff thrown at her in this story and she excels at all of them. Whether it's admonishing a couple of SA thugs who were supposed to help her find her grandfather; suffering through Pollit's torture and her eventual escape attempt; haggling to gain more money with the Roman gold and best of all, overcoming Pollit using her knowledge of chemistry. There's very little trace of the whiny child we see in later TV stories, in fact the only time she cries and shouts about her grandfather is when she's undergoing her interrogation from Pollit, and I'm sure we can forgive her that.
Ultimately, The Alchemists treads the familiar ground of cautionary tales when it comes to meddling with history. The Doctor and Susan could have quite easily given the knowledge of alchemy to Pollit and stop World War II from breaking out, and even preventing the rise of Hitler. Maybe, then it also deals with the temptation to alter history to see where it leads. We certainly see other renegade Time Lords do that very thing later in on the series.
Overall, I give The Alchemists...
To cut a long story short, the Doctor had been kidnapped by the antique dealer that he and Susan had sold the Roman gold to upon landing in Berlin. The dealer had been working with Pollit, a agent from the British Secret Service who was investigating the German scientist Fritz Harber and rumours that he had found a way to economically extract gold from sea water. So when, the Doctor turns up with freshly minted antique gold, suspicion naturally falls on the Time Lord and his granddaughter.
 |
| The Doctor and Susan. |
Naturally, with the Doctor out of the picture to the closing scenes of the episode, this is Susan's story. She's has a lot of stuff thrown at her in this story and she excels at all of them. Whether it's admonishing a couple of SA thugs who were supposed to help her find her grandfather; suffering through Pollit's torture and her eventual escape attempt; haggling to gain more money with the Roman gold and best of all, overcoming Pollit using her knowledge of chemistry. There's very little trace of the whiny child we see in later TV stories, in fact the only time she cries and shouts about her grandfather is when she's undergoing her interrogation from Pollit, and I'm sure we can forgive her that.
Ultimately, The Alchemists treads the familiar ground of cautionary tales when it comes to meddling with history. The Doctor and Susan could have quite easily given the knowledge of alchemy to Pollit and stop World War II from breaking out, and even preventing the rise of Hitler. Maybe, then it also deals with the temptation to alter history to see where it leads. We certainly see other renegade Time Lords do that very thing later in on the series.
Overall, I give The Alchemists...
Continuity Corner
A new section in which I keep track of all continuity and timeline references so I can keep track of where we are in universe.
- The Doctor and Susan are now frequent visitors to Earth, with Susan commenting that they seem to land here every two landings. Among the time periods visited are during the time of the Roman Empire (where they acquire a supply of gold coins); England in 1941 during the Blitz; a Zeppelin raid during the First World War. The Doctor and Susan have also visited a gateway to another universe.
- The Doctor wishes to land on 20th century Earth so that he can work on a strange chest which he brought with him from Gallifrey (also referenced in The Beginning). This is undoubtedly, the Hand of Omega (Remembrance of the Daleks).
- The framing sequence takes place later in Season One when the Doctor and Susan are travelling with Ian and Barbara. It takes place sometime after Marco Polo and The Aztecs, but before Here There Be Monsters, as Susan has no desire to leave her grandfather.
No comments:
Post a Comment